CHAPTER TWO
1210 Words
I stumbled through the door, still wearing the tattered remains of my dignity. My mother looked up from where she sat, and I guessed she must have already heard the news.
Immediately she saw me, her face crumpled in sympathy. "Oh, my sweet girl…" She ran to hug me, and I broke down into tears again.
I pulled away from her touch, moving to the small window that overlooked the forest edge. "We need to leave, Mom. Tonight. Now."
"Leave?" She froze, cup half-raised to her lips. "What do you mean?"
"Leave the pack. Start over somewhere new." The words tumbled out as I paced our tiny room. "I have money, you know that. We could just go to another city or another territory. Just anywhere no one knows us. Somewhere I'm not just 'the Alpha's bastard.'"
I expected hesitation, questions maybe, but not the stark fear that crossed my mother's face.
"No." The word was sharp and definite. "We can't leave."
I stared at her in disbelief. "Why not? What's keeping us here?"
"Amaranth, please…"
"No, Mother, I want to know! Why should we stay where we're treated like dirt? Where I've just been publicly humiliated by the man I thought loved me? Do you even know what his reasons are? Because he found his mate. What about me?" Tears rolled down my eyes. "What about the truth you made me hide, which must be why I can't even find my own mate?"
"Ama…" she called, slowly moving closer to me.
"Don't 'Ama' me, Mom. Just tell me why we can't leave and have to go through all this."
My mother stood still, but there was a shift of unexpected fury in her eyes. "Because I said so! We are not leaving this place, and that's final!"
In twenty-two years, I had never heard that tone from my gentle, accommodating mother. It stopped me cold.
"You're scared," I realized, studying her face. "What are you afraid of? Who are you afraid of? It's not Luna Bellamy... is it?"
My mother turned away, busying herself with straightening items on the counter that were already perfectly aligned. "This is our home, Amaranth. This is where we belong."
"Mom!” I called. As I wanted to move closer to her, a sharp knock at the door..
"Just a moment," she answered and then quickly opened the door. One of the maids stood there.
"The Alpha requests Amaranth's presence immediately.”
My mother stiffened. "It's late. Surely whatever he needs can wait until morning."
The maid shifted uncomfortably. "He was most insistent. There are... guests."
I felt sick. After the humiliation of tonight, what more could my father possibly want from me? To parade me before more wolves who would see only my illegitimacy, my supposed weakness?
"I'll go," I said, ignoring my mother's pleading look. "Let me change first."
"There's no time," the maid said. "You're to come now."
I exchanged a glance with my mother, whose face had gone ashen. "Very well," I said, squaring my shoulders. "Lead the way."
The maid led me not to my father's office but to the formal receiving hall. Even before the doors opened, I sensed something was wrong.
There were too many heartbeats and too many unfamiliar scents.
And when I entered, I froze. The room was filled with wolves I didn't recognize. At the front stood my father, Alpha Lain, with Luna Bellamy by his side. Her smile was cold and triumphant.
Beside them stood a man I didn't recognize, and he didn’t seem to be from our pack either.
"Ah, here she is," my father announced, his voice carrying that false warmth he used for official functions. "My beautiful daughter, Amaranth."
My father’s words brought nothing but surprise to me.
I almost looked around me, trying to see if there was someone behind me that he was referring to.
This definitely can't be good.
My father turned to the stranger. “Pardon her dressing. She actually likes going around treating things, especially in the wild, that she sometimes forgets the way to present herself. So, what do you think of her, Beta Damon?”
“I do treat people,” I corrected.
“And I forgot to add the fact that she makes nice jokes,” he added, and everyone in the room began to laugh.
I bit my tongue down in embarrassment, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow me.
Then the man whom my father referred to as Beta Damon looked at me from head to toe as if he was checking out goods. Then he said, "She's lovelier than you described, Alpha Lain."
“Is she?” Turning to Luna Bellamy, “It's all thanks to her mother here.”
Cold dread pooled in my stomach as I knew what this was. It was nothing but a negotiation. And I was the commodity.
My father gestured me forward. "Amaranth, show proper respect to Beta Damon of the Blood Moon Pack. They are here for an alliance, and you have been chosen."
What? Me?
The Blood Moon Pack. They are the biggest pack in the world, located in western Houston, far away from here. Their name alone commands respect, and they are known for their brutal fighting style and ancient bloodlines. Their wolves are much bigger and higher-ranked than normal ones.
But why me? Why even come to our pack when they are far above our level? We are much lower than them. And why did my father even choose me? Was it a way of apologizing for what happened earlier?
I managed a curtsy, my mind racing. "It's an honor to meet you both."
I could not believe I had suddenly become more polite when I heard they were here for my hand in marriage. Like seriously, who wouldn’t be happy to hear this?
To be married to the future Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack was nothing but a blessing, and I had heard a lot of things about him. I had only seen him once, but from afar. He was every woman's dream.
I thought the Moon Goddess hated me, which made Gideon leave me, but I can't believe I just got something better.
Beta Damon smiled—a predator's smile that never reached his eyes. “Well, I think the honor is ours. We've heard much about you... though perhaps not everything."
My face flushed. “Thank you, Beta Damon.”
"Amaranth," my father said, his voice deceptively casual, "Alpha Damon has sent his Beta to propose an alliance between our packs—a joining of bloodlines." I could not help the happiness flowing within me. “So, in a week's time, you will wed Thorne Milker.”
I bowed my head politely with a smile on my face. “Yes, Father, I shall…”
But wait. Did I just hear Thorne Milker?
The disowned blind son?
I quickly raised my gaze. “No, I think there's a mix-up somewhere. It should be Ethan Milker, not Thorne Milker.”
“No, sweetheart. There's no mix-up. It's definitely Thorne,” Luna Bellamy replied, and I could see that annoying, satisfied smirk on her face.
Fear gripped me as I finally realized what was going on.
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